Final Fantasy XI PC to Ship on October 28th

Square Enix also confirms a couple of interesting charges, one for additional characters, the other for a mini-game.

by: IGN Staff

October 10, 2003

Somewhat belatedly, developer and publisher Square Enix sent along a press release today confirming an October 28 ship date for the PC version of Final Fantasy XI. The main portion is below, minus the corporate and promotional bits:

FINAL FANTASY XI FOR WINDOWS BEGINS SHIPPING TO NORTH AMERICAN RETAILERS OCTOBER 28, 2003 LOS ANGELES, Calif. (October 6, 2003) - Square Enix U.S.A., Inc. ("Square Enix U.S.A."), the publisher of Square Enix products in North America, announced today that FINAL FANTASY XI for Windows, the first online title in the world-renowned series, will begin shipping to North American retailers on October 28. FINAL FANTASY XI for Windows will include the "Rise of the Zilart" expansion pack and other applications on five CD-ROM discs and carries a suggested retail price of $49.99 (USD).

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FINAL FANTASY XI subscribers will receive their first 30 days of access without charge. Aside from Internet service provider access charges, the free trial period will begin on the date players create their first "Content ID" or character. Any additional "Content IDs" purchased are also available without charge until the end of the free trial period. After 30 days, players can continue to play FINAL FANTASY XI by paying a monthly fee of $12.95 (USD) for one FINAL FANTASY XI character, and can create up to 15 additional characters for an additional charge of $1.00 (USD) per character, per month. Tetra Master, the online version of the wildly popular and addictive mini-game from FINAL FANTASY IX, will also be included in the package and will be available for $1.00 (USD) per month. Payment for monthly access charges must be made by credit card only (restrictions apply).

FINAL FANTASY XI In FINAL FANTASY XI, players will undertake multiple adventures through vast environments in the world of "Vana'diel," which has more than 100 areas to explore, including mountains, forests, ice plains, deserts, oceans, rivers, castles, and dungeons. The game allows players to create their alter ego that will exist in the world of Vana'diel, choosing from a variety of races, facial features, hairstyles and colors. They will be able to play at their own pace and form parties by utilizing the various communication tools that have been incorporated into FINAL FANTASY XI, including easy-to-use chat and messaging systems. The inclusion of "Rise of the Zilart" will expand the storyline and open up a variety of higher-level skills and abilities.

The first cross-platform, cross-continent massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), FINAL FANTASY XI allows gamers to connect to the same exact world regardless of whether they are playing on a personal computer (PC) or PlayStation2 computer entertainment system and whether they are playing in North America or Japan.

Final Fantasy is a hugely successful console RPG franchise that has had only limited exposure on the PC, so we are very interested to see how this cross-platform title will fare. - Jonric